Placement Exam Information - Manhattan School of Music

REQUIRED PIANO(required of all students except keyboard and guitar majors)The required piano exam includes reading at sight and the demonstration of thefollowing skills: major and minor scales, chord progressions, triads and inversions,harmonization, transposition, and sight-reading. The level of sight-reading is equivalentto repertoire from the text Essential Keyboard Repertoire Vol. I, ed. Lynn Olson. If youhave never had piano training, you will be placed immediately into Required Piano I.More information is available upon request.THEORETICAL STUDIES(required of all students)Students must acquire a musical education that goes beyond the technical trainingneeded for performance. Those enrolled in a degree or diploma program at ManhattanSchool of Music are required to gain fluency in analytical skills and understanding of thestructural forces that underlie musical composition.The theory curriculum at MSM stresses the interdependence of theoretical skills andperformance. Based on this premise, placement examinations determine that student’slevels of skill in harmony, counterpoint, form and analysis, dictation, and sight-singing.These examinations are to be taken only once.Undergraduate students who do not meet college-level standards at Manhattan Schoolof Music are placed in remedial classes. For graduate students whose placementexams indicate some deficiencies but a reasonable knowledge of undergraduate theory,the department offers various courses, which complete the theory requirements atMSM. These courses do not count toward the cumulative credit needed to graduatewith the master’s degree. The tests include:Harmony/Counterpoint/Form and Analysis:Testing commences with rudiments – clefs, key signatures, intervals, accidentals, andrhythm. Sufficient knowledge allows the applicant to continue with the materials ofdiatonic harmony, chromatic harmony, modulations, figured bass, melodyharmonization, and analysis of harmony, counterpoint, and form. Those who haveindicated a working knowledge of this area proceed to principles of the 20 th century.Dictation:The instructor plays on the piano the musical material, which the students are expectedto notate. Melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic material will be played, beginning withsimple diatonic material and progressing to more difficult chromatic and atonal material.To permit the student to complete each example, several repetitions will be played.Sight-Singing:Students will be expected to sing melodies and perform rhythms at sight. This course ofstudy parallels the contents of the harmony/counterpoint curriculum. Manhattan Schoolof Music uses the “fixed do” and “movable numbers” methods.Fretboard harmony (guitar majors only):This test is designed to determine the level of knowledge of the fretboard fingerings,harmony, sight-reading, transposition, and figured bass.Classical Division Placement Exam Brochure – Page 2 of 3Last updated 3-2-2012